


mechanical hearts

by gyulemon



Category: Infinite (Band)
Genre: Dystopia, M/M, automatons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-21
Updated: 2015-11-21
Packaged: 2018-05-02 18:23:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5258930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gyulemon/pseuds/gyulemon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>where they try to learn how to love</p>
            </blockquote>





	mechanical hearts

**Author's Note:**

> for denisse, happy birthday! ❤

In the night of Sunggyu's 17th birthday, his mother comes to see him at his room.

It's white, nude, nothing hanging on the walls and no shelves full of his personal stuff (pictures, mangas, love letters), only scientific books for his studies. That's all his room is; that's all Sunggyu is.

His mother is wearing white clothes, from head to toe, and her hair is tied up with a white ribbon. Her face is bare except from the makeup foundation, probably trying to cover her dark circles, but Sunggyu can see every single wrinkle on her face, an unimpeachable reminder that time goes by for everyone.

“My son.” she says, voice monotonous and severe. “Today is the day of your 17th birthday. You have grown up to become a very handsome, smart man. I'm proud of you.”

Sunggyu somewhat wants to roll his eyes, because he knows his mother couldn't care less about him.

“Thank you, Mother.” he replies, nodding slightly. “I'll work harder so you and Father can keep being proud of me.”

His mother clicks his tongue and looks around his room, eyes scanning as if she was trying to find something that could put Sunggyu in danger. As if he was that reckless. Or stupid.

“It's about time for you to move into a new house and get yourself an automaton.”

He's not able to surpress the snort this time.

“I don't want one of those machines living with me just to do the chores and fuck me every night, thank you.”

His mother squirms uncomfortable on her place.

“You _don't_ have to....have intimate relationships with your automaton. That's just one of their functions.”

Sunggyu feels disgusted, and ignores his mother's hard look when he makes a face.

“I don't want one.” he insists, narrowing his eyes at her. He's getting annoyed. “I can take care of myself.”

“I don't care if you can take care of yourself, kid.” his mother's tone is harsher this time, and sadly Sunggyu knows he has lost the battle. If there was any battle to begin with. “You're getting one tomorrow, whether you like it or not.”

 

 

There is a big building almost in the outskirts of Seoul called _'the mechanical life'_ where all the automatons are assembled and sold.

Sunggyu looks at the white walls almost with hatred, repulsion, and is dragged inside against his will.

Everything is white, so white that Sunggyu has troubles trying to discern the walls from the clothes of the people working there (or even his mother's).

White is the colour of the purity, the tolerance, the strength, _the nobility_. The high-class.

In their stratified society, divided in royalty and populus, Sunggyu belongs to the first group. Not that he is delighted by that.

“I hope there will be nice ones on stock.” his mother says, as they walked across one of the thousand white corridors that maze seemed to have.

When kids from nobility turned 17 years old, they were (forced) enabled to choose an automaton to live with when they moved into a new house.

Sunggyu was highly pleased by the fact he didn't have to live with his obnoxious mother anymore but the thought of having to get an automaton made something stir up inside of him.

They were taken into a spacious room, where at least 13 people were arranged in a row for Sunggyu to see.

Ten were women and three were men. The women were wearing a very thin and transparent-like dress, Sunggyu could see the silhouettes of their breasts. The men were just wearing a long white t-shirt, which also didn't let much to the imagination.

He wanted to leave.

“C'mon, Sunggyu.” his mother encouraged him. “Go and take a look and pick one. I have to leave to sign some papers, but I'll come back after a while and see your choice.”

He is left alone in a room full of people and a security guard (just in case he decides to run away, his mother said).

“What if I don't want to choose anyone?” he asks, looking at the guard.

He only gets back an impassive look. Clicking his tongue, Sunggyu turns around and looks at the people in front of them

The women were very pretty. Most of them had black, long hair, which reached around their chests area. He walked by in front of each one of them, looking carefully. One of the girls had piercing, feline gaze, and Sunggyu thought she'd be a great company. He had almost already made his choice when his eyes landed on the last man in the row.

He was skinnier than the rest, but still very well built. Wide shoulders, thick thighs, pointy, sharp nose and plump lips. His dark hair was wavy and the fringe almost covered his eyes.

Sunggyu wanted to see.

“Look up.” he orders, and it sounds rougher than he has intended to.

The automaton doesn't even react to his tone and jus looks up, meeting Sunggyu's gaze.

_God._

“Tell my Mother I have already chosen.” he says, turning around to look at the guard. “I'm taking...number 831.”

The guard nods and leaves the room, probably looking for his mother.

He sighs and looks at the boy again. Out of the thirteen people, he's the most appealing one.

The sound of his mother's heels echo throughout the whole room and Sunggyu swings on his toes, anticipating. She's not going to be pleased.

“I heard you already chose?” she asks, looking at his direction.

She sees Sunggyu standing next to the boy number 813 and her face scrunches into a grimace.

“A m-man?”

Sunggyu nods.

“I'm taking him.” he states, firmly. He's already past the phase of being scared by his mother.

“You can't.” she demands, reluctantly.

“Oh, I _can_.” Sunggyu doesn't even try to hide is annoyment. “You forced me to come here and choose a fucking automaton altough I've told you thousand times I don't want one. I have chosen this one, and you better live with it. I don't care, Mother.”

Sunggyu hissed when his mother slapped him right in the face. He could see she was annoyed too (mostly probably for having being 'humiliated' in front of those people).

“Do whatever you want.” she says, in the end, and leaves the room steadily.

Sunggyu feels his lips curving into a smile but it soon disappears when he sees the guard cutting off the strings uniting 813's hands with the girl next to him. The boy walks slowly towards him, until he's right in front of Sunggyu.

“Thank you for choosing me, Master.” he says, and Sunggyu feels some inner joy when he hears his voice. It's deep and low, but sweet and honeyed.

He's reminded once again of what is what he has in front of him (and why) and disgust sets on the lower part of his stomach once again.

He motions for the boy to follow him, and so he does.

They walk out of the oppressive building, and get inside the car. Sunggyu is glad he has taken his own car and doesn't have to drive back with his mother. She would have probably tried to throw the automaton into the road with the car running.

 

 

 

Sunggyu lived in a very pretty, kind of small (in comparison with his last one) house in the middle of Seoul.

The first thing he does is give 813 new clothes for him to wear, because he doesn't want the automaton to walk almost naked around his house.

“I start working on Tuesday.” he says, once they are inside.

813 looks at him very carefully.

“I don't really want you to do anything.” a sigh. “But since I can't just leave you here doing nothing...you can do the chores, I guess. Don't touch my stuff, it's completely forbbiden.”

“Yes, Master.”

“So 81-....I don't want to call you 813. Do you have a name?”

The boy shakes his head.

Sunggyu looks at him and thinks. He thinks how the boy has looked superior out of them all. Superior in a stratum which wasn't even included in their society. Superior in the unjustified inferiority.

He looks at him and thinks how his face looks like a masterpiece. Like the artwork of a very virtuous artist.

Superior and virtuous, that's what he thinks.

“Your name is going to be Woohyun.”

“Alright, Master.”

 

 

*****

 

 

At night, after a very exhaustive day at work, Sunggyu leaves his jacket on the couch and goes to his bedroom, rolling up his sleeves.

He's shocked to find Woohyun almost naked lying on his bed.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he asks, but the sight of the other's body makes his throat go dry.

“Welcome back, Master.” Woohyun bows his head and sits on the bed, the shirt he's wearing not covering enough of his body and – god – Sunggyu can see _everything_. “Since it's been a very busy day I thought you'd want to relieve some stress and-”

“Leave.” Sunggyu says, too tired to even feel annoyed. “You don't have to do this. I don't want your sexual services.” a deep breath. “Just leave.”

“Okay, Master.” Woohyun quickly gets up and tries to leave the room as fast as he can.

Sunggyu grabs him by the arm before he can do so.

“How old are you?” he asks, biting his lower lip.

Woohyun can't be much older than he is.

“I am 17 too, Master.”

Sunggyu lets him go.

 

 

Sunggyu gets annoyed at Woohyun rather easily. He hates the boy for being too submissive, too obedient, too _heartless_.

“Stop!” he screams one day, throwing a glass of water onto the floor.

Woohyun looks at it and then back at him.

“Why do you keep letting me treat you like this!?” he asks, brows knit in rage. “How can you be like _this_?!”

“I can't feel anything, Master. It's okay.”

Sunggyu's eyes are burning, Woohyun notices.

“I know.” Sunggyu replies, this time calmer.

 _That's what I hate,_ he thinks.

Sunggyu watches the automaton pick up the shattered pieces of the floor and throw them into the nearest bin.

Then, he leaves.

 

 

As much as Sunggyu has tried to ignore his body and focus on his job and all the work he had to do, it's almost impossible for him when he's all alone in bed at night, the warmth of his duvet making him feel slightly heated and his hand furtively trying to reach inside his pants.

“I can't do this.” he breathes out, standing up and massaging his temples.

He needs a cold shower, that would do. Then he can go back to sleep.

He opens the door a bit too harshly and is surprised to see Woohyun in the corridor right in front of his bedroom, back slightly leaned against the wall.

“What are you doing here.” he asks, and it comes too out of breath.

Woohyun looks at him.

“I'm always here at night just in case you need something, Master.”

“That's fucking creepy.” Sunggyu is grossed out. “You never sleep?”

“I don't have to.”

True, he's an automaton. Sunggyu constantly forgets it.

“Go back to your room. I won't need you tonight.”

“Are you sure?”

Sunggyu follows Woohyun's gaze and, god, he's looking _there_.

“Yes, I'm sure.” he replies, swalling the lump forming on his throat. “I told you I don't need you for this.”

“But I really don't care, Master.” Woohyun insits. “In fact – ” Sunggyu is not sure how Woohyun has moved so quickly and now his hands are on his hips, fingers playing with the hem of his sweatpants. “I'd be very glad to help you.”

Sunggyu doesn't reply. Not this time. (As if he could).

Instead, he just watches Woohyun kneeling and pulling his pants down. He wasn't even wearing underwear, so his cock is now free and just for Woohyun to see.

He starts licking the tip, first slowly then more eagerly, until he takes all of his member and starts sucking hard on it, making sure to touch his balls as well.

Sunggyu throws his head back and buries his fingers inside the silky, dark strands of Woohyun's hair, and tries to lead his movements. He somehow feels as if he needed to remind Woohyun who was the one in control.

Sunggyu is not prepared at all for the sneaky finger that slowly pushes inside of him, and a moan of pleasure and pain escapes past his lips, his cock twitching and his cum filling up Woohyun's mouth.

He sees the boy swallowing it all, even licking his lips, and he just feels so so dizzy. With shaky legs, he murmurs a 'thank you' to Woohyun and helps him stabilize.

“D-Do you-” Sunggyu looks down and sees Woohyun's own bulge, and decides it would be fair to return him the favour.

“No.” Woohyun shakes his head. “It's okay, Master.”

“Are you sure?” Sunggyu narrows his eyes at him.

“Yeah. I can't feeling anything, so this is not a bother for me.”

“Okay.”

Sunggyu's head is still spinning, so he decides to go back inside his room and drink a cold cup of water before trying to sleep.

After a few minutes, he knows Woohyun has lied to him.

The walls separating their bedrooms aren't that thick, so it was not so hard to guess what Woohyun was doing, even more if the boy was _that_ loud.

Sunggyu feels himself slowly getting hard again, and when he hears Woohyun moaning 'Master', he has to grab the sheets to prevent him from going into the boy's bedroom.

No matter how horny he's feeling, he's also angry. Angry at Woohyun for having dared to lie at him.

He was going to make sure that the boy was punished tomorrow.

The thought made his stomach sink and he drank another cup of freezing water before idly trying to go back to sleep.

 

 

******

 

The next morning when he wakes up, he feels completely worn out. His limbs are numb and his temples throbbing. His throat is dry too.

“Jesus fuck.” he groans, turning around in his bed and hiding his head under the pillow, grabbing his electronic device first to check the hour.

It's 7 a.m, and it's Saturday. He still has around two hours left before he has to wake up.

But sleep doesn't come back, so he just stays under the warm (not white) blankets for sometime more until he thinks it has been enough.

He takes a shower and washes off the events of the previous night; memories of Woohyun on his knees – sucking him – appear in his mind as blurred flashes, and the pain in his temples return.

How the fuck did he allow that to happen....what was he even thinking about....No, he wasn't thinking, not at all.

He feels angry, angry at Woohyun, angry at himself. He has always been so adamant about automatons and how they were used, treated – as slaves, as prostitutes. Even if they were not real people, it was still disgusting and hideous, because they were made to look like normal people. And if people actually got satisfaction – pleasure – for mistreating them and raping them, isn't that because of their looks. How is that different from a 'real' violation, Sunggyu thinks.

Automatons can't feel anything, that's what they say.

Sunggyu knows it's a lie.

 

“ _Woohyun is sweeping the floor, hands on the broom and eyes fixed in every nook and cranny. Sunggyu is reading a book on the couch, legs crossed and back resting against the cushions._

“ _Hey, Woohyun.” he calls, and the boy quickly turns around to look at him._

“ _Yes, Master?”_

“ _You really can't feel anything?” Sunggyu dared to ask. He's always been curious._

_Woohyun tenses, he notices._

“ _No.” he shakes his head. “I can't feel anything.”_

“ _Anything?” Sunggyu clicks his tongue. He's slightly disappointed._

“ _Anything related to emotions, Master.”_

_Sunggyu frowns and places the book on the small table in front of him._

“ _Does that mean you can feel physical contact? Pain?”_

_Woohyun nods._

“ _Pain is an emotion. If you feel hurt, you're feeling something. Don't lie to me.” Sunggyu narrows his eyes at him._

“ _I'm sorry, Master. That's what we've always been told. I guess they meant we can't feel affection, love. We can't cherish anyone.”_

“ _I see.” Sunggyu's head is racing with thoughts and unwanswered questions. “So, when owners hit their automaton, do they actually feel it?”_

_Woohyun nods, and Sunggyu wants to throw up.”_

 

“Good morning, Master.”

Woohyun is making breakfast. He's not wearing many clothes except a baggy t-shirt and shorts, all black. Sunggyu gives him a face.

“I told you to stop wearing that colour.”

Black is the colour designed for automatons, a sign of the impurity, the dirtiness, the _unwanted_.

Woohyun's gaze shifts to the floor, slightly bowing his head.

“I'm sorry, Master.”

Sunggyu hates each one of the colours designed by the government. Hates that he has to wear white to work if he wants to keep his head on his neck. That's why he undresses as soon as he enters his house. It makes him feel nauseated.

They ate the breakfast in silence, and Sunggyu takes his moment to look at Woohyun, to appreciate every single detail of his face, the curvature of his neck, his collarbones. He's really well made.

“You're really gorgeous.” he says, and Woohyun looks up, eyes full of confusion.

Sunggyu smiles when he notices the boy stuttering. He thought automatons couldn't do that.

“T-Thank you, Master.”

He sees the struggle, the internal battle taking place inside of Woohyun, as if he was debating whether to return the compliment or not. Whether he should or not. Was that even allowed. Would Sunggyu hit him, punish him. Sell him, kill him. Would Sunggyu.

“And what about me?” Sunggyu takes the iniciative. “Am I not attractive for you?”

This time, Woohyun looks really scared, as if he had just done something _really_ wrong.

“Yes, Master. You really are. I'm sorry.”

Sunggyu clicks his tongue, rolling his eyes.

“Relax.” he says, and their gazes meet. “I told you already, you're safe with me. I won't hurt you.”

Woohyun seems to get shy (Sunggyu thinks he's flustered, but is that even possible) and nods.

 

When Woohyun gets up to clear the table and goes to the sink to do the washing up, Sunggyu thinks that, in his 17 years of life, this is going to be the most reckless, self-centered thing he's going to do. And probably the first out of many more to come.

He dares to walk up to Woohyun and put his arms around his waist, resting his chin on his shoulder.

Woohyun's body goes stiff.

“You're such a liar.” Sunggyu murmurs, and rubs his thumb against the exposed skin of the waist. “You said you didn't need my help yesterday.”

“I-I wasn't lying, Master.” his voice is as steady as always, but something – something shakes in between the words, which doesn't go unnoticed for Sunggyu.

“Weren't you? Because I can recall very well hearing you moaning from my bedroom.”

He can feel Woohyun tensing even more under him. The boy quickly breaks the hug and turns around to look at him, almost kneeling down if Sunggyu hadn't hold him by the wrist.

“Don't.” he hisses.

“I'm so sorry, Master.” Woohyun says, and Sunggyu can swear his eyes get teary. “I'm so sorry.”

“I told you to stop!” now his voice is raised up, so loud he's almost shouting. “Stop telling me you're sorry! I told you it's okay, I don't know what they taught you there, but that won't happen with me. I hate, in case you haven't noticed, anything related to this fucking sick society and its system! Just-” a deep breath. “Stop.”

“I'm s- okay, Master.” Woohyun swallows hard, and dares to look up, meeting Sunggyu's piercing gaze.

“How can we be friends if all you do is say you're sorry and act as if you were inferior to me.”

“That's becau-”

“Oh, god.” Sunggyu throws his arms into the air. “Just shut up, would you.”

Before Woohyun can nod like a puppet again, Sunggyu tries to hug him again, pressing his body against the counter.

“As I was saying before,” Sunggyu goes back to caress the exposed skin. “You lied to me. You have been a bad boy.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Should I punish you?” Sunggyu slaps himself at his own words. He's gonna scare Woohyun off. “Relax.” he adds. “I said I'd never hurt you.”

Woohyun nods.

“Y-yes. Punish me, Master.”

“Ummm.”

Sunggyu slides a hand inside Woohyun's pants and rubs the tip with his thumb, feeling the boy squirming under him.

“But not today.” Sunggyu says, and it sounds out of breath.

He keeps pumping Woohyun's member nevertheless, until the boy is moaning shamelessly under him and he comes on Sunggyu's hand.

Sunggyu leaves a kiss on the curvature of his neck.

“I want to do you gentle and slow.” he murmurs, cleaning his hand. “So not today.”

 

 

*****

 

Sunggyu lets out a sigh of pleasure when he opens his eyes, the coldness of the room hitting his cheeks and turning his nose red; but the warmth inside the blankets make him snuggle closer next to the body lying besides him.

Woohyun is sleeping, or at least that's what Sunggyu thinks. The automaton said once he didn't have to sleep, which in the end Sunggyu learnt that meant he didn't have to sleep as much as humans do. But they have to recover energy too.

He looks at Woohyun, and dares to trace the curvatures of his face with his index fingers, so soft that it was almost unnoticeable. First his forehead, removing the bangs off it, and then all the way down to his nose, the same nose Sunggyu has wanted to kiss since the first time he saw it. Pointy, straight, sharp. His lower lip is uncharacteristically thick, perfect to kiss Sunggyu's – and the memories from the previous night sent a wave of pleasure through his spine. Woohyun's jawline is almost as sharp as his nose, and he's so tempted to lean further and leave a trail of kisses along it.

“Good morning, Master.”

Sunggyu rolls his eyes.

“Yah.” he boops Woohyun's nose. “I told you to stop calling me Master when we are together. I'm not your Master, I'm nobody's Master, for fuck's sake, I'm just 17, I can't even discern between which clothes are washed with hot water and which ones with cold water. How am I going to be someone's Master.”

Woohyun titls his head to look at him straight in the eyes.

“But I'm not a 'someone'.”

“Bullshit.” Sunggyu gets up, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “You really can't feel anything?”

It's not the first time he has asked this, he's aware of that. But what if.

Woohyun remains silent for a while.

“What if I did?”

Sunggyu opens his eyes wide.

“What are you talking about?” Something – anxiety, nerves, fear, insecurity, _expectation_ – sets on the lower part of his stomach. “Have you felt something?”

“I'm not-” Woohyun breathes in, and Sunggyu knows he's scared. “I'm not defective. _I'm not._ ”

Sunggyu looks at him.

“I know you're not.” he says, and is surprised by how rough his words come out.

“Good.” another deep breath. “Because I'm not.”

Sunggyu sighs and lies back on the bed. He had woken up in such a good mood, why had he had to ruin it like this by asking Woohyun in the first place.

“When I was 12,” Woohyun starts talking again, voice softer and eyes fixed on the ceiling. Sunggyu can't take his eyes off him. “They took a friend. The Institution, I mean. He was one of those...defective automatons. I couldn't feel anything related to whatever he was talking about. He mentioned something about hope, about love, about _freedom_. He kept saying how we were made looking like humans just to satisfy their darkest fantasies in a way they would have nothing to regret afterwards.”

“I think so too.” Sunggyu nods.

“He said too: _how can you be so sure that we are just made up by wires and circuits?_ Until this day, I still think about this. What am I? Am I really heartless?”

Woohyun bites his lower lip, still not looking at Sunggyu.

“I couldn't feel anything back then. For me his words were just empty threats. I didn't even feel anything when they took him away, I just thought that I would have to eat alone since then.”

Sunggyu thinks that's sad. How would it be if they took away someone important – important in so many ways, even if you can't feel them – for you, but you just  _can't_ care.

“Meeting you changed so many aspects.” Sunggyu's heart skips a beat. “I couldn't feel anything but fear and uncertainty when you bought me. _Will he be nice? Will he hit me? Will he use me and then throw me away?_ Those were my thoughts. But you – God, Mast-Sunggyu, you're so irresponsible, uncertain, risky, unpredictable. You're everything I never wanted in an owner. I just wanted to live a quiet life. But you put everything upside down since the first moment, when you replied your mother in front of everyone. If I could have feel something, I would have been shocked – taken aback, even.”

“I hate her.” Sunggyu mutters. “She was the first thing I started hating in this fucked up society. She made me feel all the time as if I wasn't worth her attention.”

“I know.” Woohyun, for the first time in what seemed as eons, looks up, and meets Sunggyu's gaze. “I think...I think the first time I wondered if I could actually feel something....f-for you, I mean, was when we were in the kitchen that morning after I had sucked you off and you hugged me...my heart...is it a heart? Whatever, it started beating faster, and I felt my head spinning around. It only increased since then. And now, being here...being here with you feels so good. It's feels right. Does it feel like that for you too?”

Sunggyu has a lump on his throat and looks away.

“Yeah.” he answers, nodding. “It does.”

Without any warning, Sunggyu pushes Woohyun down and lies on top of him; his face so close he could just kiss the boy if he leaned in a bit.

“I want to stay like this forever; my lips close to yours, just as long as they don't touch until the gravity is too much.”

Woohyun smiles and Sunggyu swears – God, he swears that smile is his most favourite thing in the world.

Sunggyu's arms give in a few seconds later and their lips clash in a soft, long kiss; sloppy and messy, but thoughtful and passionate.

When Sunggyu takes off their clothes and puts Woohyun's legs around his waist to thrust into him, sweaty hands and racing hearts, he thinks he's lucky – lucky, because in the world they live there are so many imperfections, so many little things that are out of place and yet, he looks at Woohyun, and the only word that crosses his mind is beautiful. Even if Woohyun was the perfect machine but the imperfect being. Sunggyu has never been a perfectionist, anyways.

When they come, nails digging on Woohyun's waist and lips against the curvature of his neck, both moaning softly as they ride out their orgasms, Sunggyu can feel Woohyun's shaky hands on his back, irregular, erratic breathing against his cheek, and his heart clenches.

Sunggyu kisses Woohyun as if he wanted to say 'it's okay if you can't feel anything, I'll love you for the both of us', and Woohyun kisses him back, meaning 'even if I were completely shallow, emotionless; I'd still choose you.'

 

 

 


End file.
